Metal cabinet structure



Nl. C. AND D. POWELL.

METAL CABINET STRUCTURE.

APPLIcAnoN FILED APR. 16. 1919.

Patented Feb. 8

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MILIQN Q. POWEBL, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AND DWIGHT WJL; @E BRKTN,MASSACHUSETTS.

METAL CABINET STRUGTRE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 8, 1921.

Application nled April 16, 1919. Serial No. 290,533.

To all 'whom it may concern Be it known that we, MILTON C. POWELL andDWIGHT POWELL, citizens of the United States, residing, respectively, atChicago, 'in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, and at Brockton,in the county of Plymouth and State of Massachusetts, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Metal Cabinet Structures, ofwhich the following is a specification, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming a art thereof.

he purpose of this invention is to provide a system of construction forsheet metal cabinets which will so simplify the process of-asseinblingthe parts that, if desired, they can be shipped knocked-down and anyworkman of average intelligence can readily set up a cabinet of thistype without the use of special tools or equipment. The inventioncomprises various features and elements of construction hereinafterdescribed and shown in the drawings as indicated by the claims:

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a cabinet embodying this inventionwith the parts fully assembled. A

Fig. 2 is a broken and condensed vertical section taken from a planewithin the cabinet shown in Fig. 1 and looking against the inner face ofthe side wall, the parts being shown on a larger scale than in. Fig. 1to indicate various details of construction.

vF ig. 3 is a detail section taken as indicated at line 3-3 on Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a detail section taken as in'dicated at line 4--4'on Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a detail section takenas indicated at line `5--5 on Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a detail section of a modification of a corner constructioncorresponding to that shownin Fig. '3.

The cabinet shown for the purpose of illustrating this invention is`designed for household use as a kitchen cabinet having a series ofshelves in its upper portion for storage of dishes and supp ies and adeep drawer in its lower portion with a'clear Space above said drawer`and below the shelves in which there may be installed a stove or ovenforcooking. Thestructural details with which the invention is con-Cerlred are applicable however'to a large variety of .cabinets boxes ormade principally of sheet metal.

In the cabinet shown the back wall, 1, consists 0f a single relativelythin sheet of metal with corner posts consisting of steel angles, 2,secured to its lateral marginpreL erably by spot welding asat 2a, asindicated 1n Figs. 3,' and 4. The front panel of the cabinet consists ofcorner posts in the form of channel rails, 3, 3, opening rearwardly andtransversely connected by horizontal angle bars, 4, 5 and 6,respectively, lodged in notches in the inner flanges, 3a, of thechannel, 3, and with their vertically extending and longer legs, 4.a, 5aand 6a, re spectively spot welded against the inner receptacles,

-face of the web of each channel, 3.

The front and back sections of the cabinet thus formed are connectedtogether by side sheets 7, 7, each consisting of a single sheet of thinmetal with its vertically extending lateral margins in contact with theinner faces respectively of the flange, 2", of the angle, 2, and theflange, 3", of the `channel, 3. In the vicinity of the shelves, 8,Athese flanges, 2" and 3b, of the corner posts are provided with, osetlugs or abutments, 9, as shown in Fig. 3and near its lateral margin theside sheet, 7, is formed with apertures or recesses shown as louveropenings, 10. Since the angle, 2, is permanently welded to the backwall, l, its flange, 2", is in eii'ect a flange of said wall, and vwiththe abutments, 9, facing toward the wall, 1, and

aperand engaging the edge of the luver openin at 10, .the side sheet, 7,is likewise retained against withdrawal from its position in thechannel, 3, as shown in Fig. 3. Asf sembly of the parts in this relationis accomplished by merely placing thesi'de sheet incontact with theflanges, 2b and 3b, of the 4 corner posts, and then inserting theshelves,

8, in the cabinet, first engaging their front edges with the notches,11, formed for them' in flanges, 3a, of the channel, 3, and thenswinging the shelves to horizontal position-p being of definitely.calculated length in relation to the width of the back panel, 1 theyact as spreaders to maintain engagement of i the Jugs, 9, with the`louver recesses 10, .thus locking the .four walls of the cabinet to-'phanneh 3, and is formed withlouver openf.

ygethen Itfjwill be understood that the lugs or '25 similar-features,17, acting as abutments onA abutments, 9, and recesses, 10, need -not beformedin the particular way shown 1n F1 '3. Fi 6.suggests`a modificationin whic the Si e sheet, 7 *,-is rovided with `suitable recesses by.makin ic ean out. 'while a disk, 13, o the flange, of the corner postshown is forced or punched part way through -the metal of the flangethus. forming an embossment or proj ectmg lug to engage the aperture,12.

As the' rear'edges of swung downwardly against the back wall,

1, bringing the shelves to' horizontal position, the depending flange ofeach shelf, 8 shown at 14, in' Fig. 2, enters an upwardly.

open channel formed ,by an offset;. 4` 1t'i-ip, 15,

A the`flange, 14, of the Shel-f,kv 8, to lock the flange into. theoffset stri 45,'so as to hold the shelf securely in p' ace. J@Williebottom shelf, 18, of the upper compartment of the cabinet containingtheshelves', 8, 1s shown with a somewhat deeper flange, 19, which in*-`'stead of being lodged in fone of the notches,

11 in ,the channel flangesa", rests on the transverse angle bar, 5,immediately back of` its'vertic'alllange, 5, as indicated in Fg. 2.

At' the' near', the shelf, 18, -is .provide-d with' a depending flange,14, locked in engagement. with afsupportingstrip, 15, in the same way asshelves, 8.

As the fore oing system of assembly for the side and 'ack walls dependsupon the presence 'of spreader members, such as the shelves, 8, it cannot beso well applied to the portion of the wallfinclosing the clearspace below .the shelved cupboard. Here the back wall', 1, is formedwith a flange, 1a, extending .forwardly and-parallel to the flange, 2b,of the corner post, 2, and spaced slightly away from said flange farenough to admit the thickness of the side. sheet, 7.

. The louver openings, 20, or other form of pedient is employed at thefront corner post,

abutments provided in the side sheet, 7, face away from the plane o fthe side wall, 1, and

correspondingly formed, louver openings, 21, constituting recesses inthe flanges, 1, are positioned tolreceive said lugs or abutments, 20.Iwhen the edge'of each sheet, v7, is, inserted between` the flanges, 1avand 2b, the flange, 1, yielding slightly to permit entrancefof theextending abutments, 20, and

then snapping back to lock the'louvers, 20.

and 21, in nested relation. A. similar ex' by welding to the web of eachof the channels, 3, a flanged strip, 22, whose flange, 23,

giertures, 12,

the shelves, 8, area extends parallel to the flange, 3, efL the ings orrecesses, 24, to receive the .corei spending features, 25, on'. thesidefsheet, `7..

Thus it will be understood that, inA assem-` bling a cabinet constructedas shown herein, the marginal portios ofthe, side sheet,

cabinet a temporary stability,"fac ilitating the insertion of .theshelves, 8,y for complet- ,ing'the engagement of the side walls'with thef r-ont and back panels. v c

Hinged dodrs, 26, are showni for inclosing the-cupboard section which isfitted,

with the shelves, 8, while a drawer, 27, 'is provided at the lower partbelow the shelf, 28, which may be substantially similar to the shelves,8, in its dimensions and mode of securement.

`At the top, the parts are firmly held in proper relation 'by a cap,29,'having a depending front flange, 30, whose inturned edge, 31,yieldingly rides over and locks against an abutment, 32, formed in thefront of each of the channels, 3, while at the rear edge of said cap,29, a depending flange, 33, is looked in engagement with the bach wallby itSabutmeHt, 34, nested with louver openings, 35, in the uppermarginal portion of said wall, 1. A flange, 36, at each end of the cap',29, overhangs the side wall, 7, as shown in Fig. 5, while an inclinedstrip, 37, wlth itsfflange, 38, spaced away from the flange, 36, toadmit the edge ofthe side sheet, 7, engages the inner face of said sidesheet to more definitely position it, as shown in Fig. 5..

We claim:

g, 1 A metal cabinet comprising a front sec- .tion and a back sectioneach having marginal anges, said flanges having offset `lugs orabutments on their inner faces, side sheets with recesses positioned,to,u register with suchabutments and horizontally-extending.,

members dimensioned to extend between the opposlte side sheets andmaintain engagement of their said recesses with the abutlugs orabutments, and the transverse walls having recesses registering with andengaging said abutments anda member dimen` sioned to extend between saidmarginal flanges with said transverse walls interposed for maintainingtheir engagement with the said flan es. j

3. In t e structure dened in claim 2, the

abutments being formed by embossments pressed in the material of saidflanges.

4. In the Structure defined in claim 2, the flanges being formed ofangle rails, each having one leg permanently attached to the margin of asheet constituting said wall.

5. In the structure defined in claim 1, the said abutments on theflanges facing back toward the respective sections to which said flangespertain, whereby the side sheets serve to tie together the front andback sections.

6. In a metalcabinet, a wall having a flange and a transverse wall withits marginal portion in contact with said flange, the flange having oneor more projectin lugs or abutments, and said transverse wa havingrecesses registering with and engaging such abutments, together with amember unattached to said transverse wall but extending into contacttherewith on the opposite side from said flange, said member beingengaged with the first mentioned wall at a point remote from thetransverse wall, and thus positioned for holding said two walls inconnected relation therewith.

7. In a metal cabinet, a joint composed of a pair of flanges spacedapart, and a wall having its marginal portion inserted between saidflanges, one of said parts having one or more lugs or abutments, andanother of said parts having one or more recesses positioned to registerwith such abutments, one of the flanges being relatively rigid, and theother adapted to yield with respect thereto for admitting the marginalportions of the wall between them.

8. In a metal cabinet, a joint composed of a pair of flanges spacedapart and a wall having its marginal portion inserted between saidflanges, the wall and one of said anges having one or more pairs ofoppositely facing abutments adapted for mutual engagement for retentionof the wall margin between said flanges.

9. In the combination set out in claim 8, one of the flanges beingadapted to yield and one set of abutments havin sloping approaches forspreading the anges upon entryo'f the wall margin.

10. In a metal cabinet, means for connecting transverse walls,comprising a pair of flanges both extending from one wall in the samedirection, and spaced apart sulliciently to receive the thickness of theother wall between them, said wall having one or more abutments on itsmarginal portion embraced by said flanges, one of the flanges havingrecesses registering with and engaging such abutments respectively, andone of the flanges being yieldingly supported on its wall to permitentry of the other wall with its 1u s or abutments between the flanges.

11. n a metal cabinet as defined in claim 10, said abutments facing awayfrom the flanged wall to engage the recesses of said flanges as hooks toresist separation of the two walls.

12. In a metal cabinet as defined in claim 10, the abutments of the wallandthe-recesses of the flange being formed as louver openings pressed upin the material and nested when assembled, with the up-raised cut-edgesof said openings facing away from the flanged wall.

13. In a metal cabinet as defined in claim 2, the abutments of theflanges and the recesses of the transverse walls being formed as louveropenings pressed up in the material and nested when assembled, theupraised cut edges of said openings facing towalld the flanged wall.

14. In a metal cabinet, front corner posts of channel shape openingrearwardly with their inner flanges notched to receive the front edge ofa shelf, the shelf lodged thereinhaving a depending flange at its rearedge in contact with the rear panel of the cabinet, a member extendingparallel to said rear panel and spaced from it sufliciently to admit theflange of the shelf, said member and said flange havin registered louveropenings with their o set cut edges facing toward the under side of theshelf.

n testimony whereof, we have hereunto set our hands at Chicago,Illinois, and at Brockton, Massachusetts, res ectively, this 29th day ofMarch, 1919, an the 31st day of March, 1919.

MILTON C. POWELL. DWIGHT POWELL.

